Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing LLC

08/22/2024

So nice for our company to get a mention in the recent Forbes Magazine!! The article is about the making of the recently released "Coup", a film about a cheeky 1918 Edwardian chef leading a battler of wits revolt against his rich employer! ! Thank you, Stacy Jansen and Forbes Magazine!!! !!

“We wanted to create costumes that feel playful and dramatic, but also made sense for the time,” said the costume designer, Stacy Jansen.

08/02/2024

WHO WORE IT BETTER? Here is a 19th century velvet mantle ( think “Gilded Age”) from the current F.I.T. “Statement Sleeves” exhibition….. and here is one of our own, authentic flocked velvet mantelets, replete with lappets and fur pom poms along the border! What do you think?

07/23/2024

….. when your interns are so gifted one makes herself a corset over the weekend and brings it so we can admire it! Yay. Sophie!

07/15/2024

On a hot day at work, we wanted to be mellow and not do anything too strenuous! Our delightful Dana and Sofia successfully learned to tie bow ties ( it only took an hour!) but now they are practicing on dress forms! Much harder, it seems!😀

05/01/2024

….. when you have an adorable young visitor today who wants to go to town in our hat section!!! (and perhaps try on a dress or two, also of her own choosing!)

04/16/2024

We are devastated to learn of the recent death of Carrie Robbins: master teacher and mentor to many fledgling costume designers at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, lauded Broadway designer and most of all, long-time friend of Helen's.

In 2012 she received the TDF Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work.

In recent years, Carrie re-invented herself again herself into an award winning playwright, putting to paper all the stories she culled from her late husband's medical writings and from her own history. Many of her plays, including her hand-made puppet &human play called "FOR THE LOST CHILDREN OF PARIS" to illustrate children's reactions to their first taste of antisemitism during the early years of WW2 in their European schoolrooms, were produced in New York and beyond.

Every year, Carrie designed and sent out holiday cards and posters illustrated showing her amazing artistic and illustrative skills and they were so lovely, Helen has kept all of them.

We grief with her friends, artistic community and extended family.

04/09/2024

We have been busy in New York theater! In addition to helping a bit on An Enemy of the People, doesn’t this pantsuit on Jessica Lange on the poster (and in the show) look familiar? Yep, it’s ours!

04/04/2024

Streaming now, this is another of our projects, "Miranda's Victim", about the true story landmark Supreme Court case in 1966 after the armed robbery, kidnapping and r**e of a young woman by Ernesto Miranda that exposed a flawed justice system that led to what is known now as the Miranda Rights. He was then retried and convicted due to the relentless pursuit of the young victim.

03/25/2024

When your fabulous interns Parker and Abby have too much fun recreating the look of the lead actor in City Center’s smash hit Jelly’s Last Jam with this principal suit we rented them!

03/08/2024

How generous is it for our rental clothing to be returned to us from the hot Broadway show “Prayer for the French Republic” accompanied by a surprise signed Playbill!!! Thank you!

01/25/2024

Tsk tsk…. When we are so crowded that there is not enough desk space for our clients to work on their computers so a box will make do?

01/12/2024

Look what popped up on our memory feed on this day back in 2018! Helen never did get to actually see her NY1 TV interview with our natty local newscaster Roger Clark because it was filmed live....but we spoke about being forced out of our business location, and exhaustingly, we have moved three times since then!

12/23/2023

Wishes from us for a peaceful, happy and healthy New Year.

12/06/2023

Bass Reeves was born a slave in 1838, escaped and went on to become one of the first Black Deputy Marshals west of the Mississippi. He married, had 10 children and died in 1910. If you are watching this TV miniseries and catch a glimpse of some amazing late 1880s evening gowns, they just may be ours!

10/27/2023

The Writers and SAG strikes have badly affected our and other businesses, but we can look forward to the opening today of one of the projects we started back in the winter of 2021! "The Holdovers:..It looks like tremendous fun!

A new film by Alexander Payne, director of SIDEWAYS and THE DESCENDANTS. Paul Giamatti stars in THE HOLDOVERS, in select theaters tomorrow, everywhere Novemb...

09/07/2023

Channel 5 news video interview with Helen via Zoom from home and Aileen at our warehouse. Alas, my own 1/2 hour interview speaking of the hardships of those of us in our extended industries got cut out ..and no, folks, we are not a store and do not "make clothing" ...that was fabricated! We RENT authentic period clothing!😉

Many of the outfits Helen Uffner designed helped to enhance the ambiance of award-winning movies and TV shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

07/30/2023

Helen did a brief radio interview on WCBS about the state of the current strikes as it affects her industry. Go to the URL below and then press the arrow to listen. Alas, Helen wasnt feeling well ( she sounds a bit raspy at the end) and right after the interview, she was tested and diagnosed with Covid....but the show must go on!

Helen Uffner rents vintage clothing to film and television productions. She tells Newsline with Brigitte Quinn that she's closed her business until the strike ends. Photo: Getty Images

07/17/2023

The WGA and SAGAFTRA strikes have caused film industry rental businesses such as ours to pretty much grind to a halt, so we will be open on limited weekdays until the strike is resolved ONLY by advance appointment or on the days we happen to go in to tie up loose ends.

You can still email us at [email protected] or call us at 718 9370220 and we will respond shortly. Calls will be forwarded to our cell phone if we are not at the showroom.

Thank you for your understanding. We support the union strikers and only hope that there will be equitable and fair contracts agreements for both WGA and SAG, and that all ancillary businesses and workers in the industry can survive these very trying times.

You can also learn more about the effects on us ancillary businesses in today's online New York Times article, in which we are also featured):

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/nyregion/sag-aftra-strike-workers-nyc.html?fbclid=IwAR3emabXQVZz5BLyWX4fqtaLzb8Lb9ybfDTZN7BnvIlZYd-PzL-5NavHau8

06/29/2023

This is a wonderful video about Viennese designer Susanne Bisovsky, mixing the old , the recycled and the new to create wonderful fashion. Inspiring!

"Viennese chic" is how Austrian fashion designer Susanne Bisovsky describes her style. She is giving traditional costumes an avant-garde makeover with her unique and colorful touch.

06/25/2023

You may not know this, but Helen has an immense collection of fashion magazines from 1855 to the 1960s. Too great to hide away in storage !Suggestions?

06/07/2023

It's all in the details:
From Helen's both work and personal collections, ranging from a close-up of a stocking to a pocket of a Pierre Cardin raincoat to the inside of an early dated dress to the details of a Balenciaga gown to the careful workmanship of several of our rental Edwardian and 1920s dresses!.

05/16/2023

Some days, our interns just HAVE to play dress-up! Gigi and Laura embrace their inner Edwardian, 20s and 70s!

05/11/2023

This quirky retro-futuristic TV show we worked on set in the 1950's, has charismatic salesman Jack Billings( Billy Crudup) and his sales associates hawking timeshares on the moon! "Hello, Tomorrow" aka Brightside, now streaming Apple TV!

What if the life you’ve always dreamed of was just one great deal away? Hello Tomorrow! is streaming now on Apple TV+ https://apple.co/_HelloTomorrowIn a ret...

04/27/2023

After a difficult year moving TWICE in one year from Queens to the Bronx and then back to Queens, we are ensconced again in Long Island City and slowly organizing our stock...here, as examples, are our triple racked 1970s menswear (our mens' and womenswear range from 1860s through 1980s) and a colorful row of women's 1940s suits!

04/26/2023

May 1st! Considering we first started working on "White House Plumbers" in February, 2021, we are delighted that this mini seried satirical drama on HBO about G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt accidentally toppling the Presidency is finally premiering! ...and what a cast! Costume designer: Leah Katznelson

From the producers of Succession and Veep, White House Plumbers tells the story of how Nixon’s own political saboteurs and Watergate masterminds, E. Howard H...

03/28/2023

Circle March 31 on your calendar! That is the day "Spinning Gold" opens! We worked on this fun 1970s biopic about Neil Bogart and the founding of Casablanca Records and all its emerging stars such as Donna Summer and Kiss!!!

In a story so unbelievable that it can only be true, comes the motion picture event of the musical journey of Neil Bogart and how his Casablanca Records crea...

02/24/2023

Here is one of the first projects we did out of our new space AND the New York Times gave the off-off Broadway show and designer Jevyn Nelms a rave review!! Jevyn sent us the article because lo and behold, one of our men's suits is in the photo!!!

01/16/2023

"Are You There, God, It's Me Margaret" trailer - so happy to have rented to this charming film from the Judy Blume book! Coming soon!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR06AB0S0KJiZgZnP_R7A5g5-RUyk9TYJDJH9bpQz3-cvBJ2nFub69CBICc&v=8AtaqkLdIVI&feature=youtu.be

-© 2023 -

01/12/2023

We are pleased to announce that we are back in Long Island City, near all trains (R,E, 7) and just a 2 minute walk from the N and W trains around the corner.
This and next week we are moving so there is a LOT or organizing to do, but we're happy to celebrate our 46th year of supplying authentic 1860s through 1980s clothing and accessories to the entertainment industries in a nice, new space. ! Give a call and come on by y'all!

12/06/2022

Know anyone in Japan? I will be featured in a story on Friday on NHK, which is a public broadcast in Japan like PBS or BBC. NHK has few channels and the show will be aired on NHK1(main channel) and NHK-BS1(satellite channel). Below is the zoom interview segment, aside from the live interview at our space.
The program title;
"キャッチ!世界のトップニュース" in Japanese
"Catch! The World Top News" in English.
The segment is called ""
https://www.nhk.jp/p/ts/KQ2GPZPJWM/

Time schedule and channels;
12/9(FRI) *Japan time
8:00-8:50 am on NHK-BS1 *my segment will start at about 8:20
10:05-10:55 am on NHK1 *my segment will start at about 10:25
11:00-11:50 am on NHK-BS1 *my segment will start at about 11:20